Natural Sweetener Safety Due to the potential of artificial sweeteners to cause harm to our health, alternative food additives that are natural rather than artificial, low or no calorie, and sweet tasting have been the focus. In fact, one natural alternative to artificial sweeteners and sugar is the popular natural sweetener stevia. Stevia it turns out, is 100-to-300 times sweeter than regular table sugar; and, has no calories or carbohydrates. A boon for the dieting industry and dieters who follow the low to no-carb keto diet. Stevia is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana, native to Brazil and Paraguay, that has been used for many years to sweeten tea and other beverages by several non-Western cultures. Aside from its non-caloric sweet taste in beverages, stevia has proven to be a good sugar substitute due to its active compounds (steviol glycosides) which are both heat-stable and pH-stable making it adaptable for baked food products.